looksharp65
Well-known member
Silly as it may sound, my question is sincere. I am not intending to make some kind of weird fun. So please read on. I would appreciate comments from those of you that have tried both of these in real birding.
First of all, as you can read in my signature, I own a bunch of bins. My Zeiss was a heritage from my father after he passed away. Together with my Minox I consider these two as my primary birding binoculars, and their views are roughly equal.
I bought my Minox 8x33 about half a year ago and it is very bright, contrasty, sharp, and last-but-not-least, absolutely colour-neutral. It is compact, light and very handsome. The field of view is not bad either.
However, I am looking for a 7x35ish or 7x4x-ish bin in order to have a larger DOF and exit pupil. My IOR 7x40 showed an extremely yellow tint, that also (together with the lack of multicoated lenses) minimized the advantage of its 5.7 mm exit pupil. (The IF was not really an issue, however.)
The reason I want to compare the Nikon and the Zen-Ray is that they optically share the same configuration along with a huge AFOV.
I do understand that the ZR is near state of the art, but porros in general can hold their own. Not needing to coat the prism for reflections or phase-correction is one advantage. By construction they also have greater light transmission compared to a RP bin of equal quality. Their 3D-view is also considered far better.
I would prefer to keep my Minox 8x33 as standard bin and use the 7x35/7x36 in woodland or for lending to friends. But I might consider the ZR as my standard, should it be considerably better than my Minox.
How much view (if any?) do I sacrifice by picking the Nikon and not the Zen-Ray?
First of all, as you can read in my signature, I own a bunch of bins. My Zeiss was a heritage from my father after he passed away. Together with my Minox I consider these two as my primary birding binoculars, and their views are roughly equal.
I bought my Minox 8x33 about half a year ago and it is very bright, contrasty, sharp, and last-but-not-least, absolutely colour-neutral. It is compact, light and very handsome. The field of view is not bad either.
However, I am looking for a 7x35ish or 7x4x-ish bin in order to have a larger DOF and exit pupil. My IOR 7x40 showed an extremely yellow tint, that also (together with the lack of multicoated lenses) minimized the advantage of its 5.7 mm exit pupil. (The IF was not really an issue, however.)
The reason I want to compare the Nikon and the Zen-Ray is that they optically share the same configuration along with a huge AFOV.
I do understand that the ZR is near state of the art, but porros in general can hold their own. Not needing to coat the prism for reflections or phase-correction is one advantage. By construction they also have greater light transmission compared to a RP bin of equal quality. Their 3D-view is also considered far better.
I would prefer to keep my Minox 8x33 as standard bin and use the 7x35/7x36 in woodland or for lending to friends. But I might consider the ZR as my standard, should it be considerably better than my Minox.
How much view (if any?) do I sacrifice by picking the Nikon and not the Zen-Ray?
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